Air Peace emerges best carrier in West Africa

Barely 16 months after launching its regional flight services, Nigeria’s leading carrier, Air Peace has proved its mettle on the West Coast of Africa, picking the Balafon Award for “Best Airline of the Year in West Africa 2018”.

The airline was presented with the award at the opening session of the 4th Accra Weizo in Accra, Ghana on Friday. Air Peace launched its first regional service to Accra on February 16, 2017.

It added Freetown (Sierra Leone), Banjul (The Gambia) and Dakar (Senegal) to its regional route network a year after on February 19.

Organiser of the 4th Accra Weizo and Publisher of ATQ News, Mr. Ikechi Uko said Air Peace emerged winner of the Balafon Award because of the efficiency it had brought to bear on its regional operations.

The Balafon Awards was instituted by ATQ News in 2009 to recognise individuals and organisations who have distinguished themselves in aviation, travel and tourism in West Africa.

“This award”, Uko said, “recognises your airline as the Best Airline of the Year in West Africa 2018 for your outstanding activities in sustaining functional and efficient operations with expansions in West Africa, thereby adding value to the aviation and travel industry as your airlines continues to thrive in becoming a dominant face across West Africa.

“With growing routes in several countries in West Africa, Air Peace Airlines is playing a significant role in not only driving the aviation, travel and tourism agenda of your organisation and country and catalysing the growth of tourism in the sub region, but also helping forge ties between countries in West Africa and Africa with a view to enhancing regional tourism.”

Speaking after receiving the award, Air Peace Corporate Communications Manager, Mr Chris Iwarah said the carrier was pleased that its intervention in fixing the challenges of air travel on the West Coast of Africa was yielding positive results.

The carrier, he said, would deepen air connectivity in West Africa by launching its Monrovia service and linking it with its Accra, Abuja and Lagos operations in the next few weeks.

He praised Uko and his team for recognising and rewarding merit. He assured members of the flying public of better air travel experience in appreciation of their continued support and loyalty to the Air Peace brand.

Air Peace crew expose alleged traffickers of 3-month-old baby on Lagos-Banjul flight

Vigilant Air Peace crew members on Monday

foiled an attempt by two women(names withheld)  to traffic  a three-month-old baby boy on the airline’s Lagos-Banjul flight.

Sources said the suspected traffickers were exposed mid-flight when the airline’s crew members noticed a baby crying inconsolably. 

Newsmen gathered that attempts by one of the suspected traffickers, who claimed to be the baby’s mother, to soothe him failed.   

When the crew members suggested to the suspected trafficker to breastfeed the baby, she declined. 

Scared that the baby’s cries were attracting attention, the woman who claimed to be his mother requested for water from the crew. 

The crew, however, noticed that the alleged mother was fumbling in giving the baby the water.

Suspicious that the baby was either stolen or being trafficked, it was gathered, the crew summoned the alleged traffickers to the back of the aircraft for questioning. 

The alleged traffickers allegedly told the crew members that the baby was a child from a surrogacy arrangement, sources said.

Dissatisfied with the alleged mother’s response, the crew notified Air Peace team at the Banjul International Airport in The Gambia of the development. 

When the flight landed in Banjul, Air Peace staff accosted the two alleged traffickers. Sources claimed that when the two women were separately questioned, they gave conflicting accounts of how they came about the baby.

Air Peace staff in Banjul, it was gathered, quickly called for the intervention of Banjul International Airport (BIA) Police Station in The Gambia and the suspected traffickers were promptly arrested.

A source alleged that medical tests conducted by security operatives in Banjul showed no relationship between the baby and the woman who claimed to be his mother.   

Another source said the two women later claimed that the baby was being taken to his father in Banjul. The alleged father, it was gathered, told security operatives that the baby was his. 

He, however, could not provide documents at the police station in Banjul to prove his claim.

Reporters gathered that security operatives in Banjul asked the father to undertake a DNA test to prove his claim. 

The alleged father told the police that the DNA test would be conducted in Nigeria, it was learnt. 

A source told newsmen that The Gambia Police rejected the alleged father’s decision to do the test in Nigeria, insisting they could not trust the medical result from the country.

Police in Banjul, reporters were told, insisted on the DNA test being conducted in The Gambia.

Reports, however, claimed the alleged mother of the baby again changed her account at the police station in Banjul. 

She allegedly claimed the baby was handed over to her by a distant relation who got pregnant for a man she could not identify.

A source, however, said the alleged traffickers had been granted bail by the police in Banjul in deference to The Gambia’s laws limiting the detention of suspects yet to be charged to court to 72 hours. 

An unidentified Gambian, it was gathered, took the suspects on bail.

A source told newsmen that the police in The Gambia were still investigating the matter to secure enough evidence to charge the suspects to court.

 The baby, another source said, had since been transferred to SOS Child Care Center in Bakothe in The Gambia for proper care pending conclusion of investigation.

It was further gathered that the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigerian High Commission to The Gambia are aware of the incident. 

Contacted for his comments on the development, Air Peace Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah confirmed the incident. 

He, however, refrained from confirming the names of the suspects and the baby.

He insisted that the matter was already being investigated by relevant security agencies in Nigeria and The Gambia.

Iwarah pledged that the airline would cooperate with the relevant security agencies to unravel the true identity of the baby.

He said the airline and its crew would remain vigilant to ensure the safety of its guests as well as continue to assist society in exposing suspected criminal acts.  

Arik Air launches new Mobile App

Arik Air, Nigeria’s leading airline, has introduced a new mobile booking app to further boost customer experience.

The new mobile app makes booking, boarding, accessing products and services by Arik Air easy and convenient. Personalized to the customer, the app gives passengers instant access to the information they need, when they need it all the time.

This user-friendly service allows the booking of tickets up to three hours before flight departure, and can accommodate any last minute travel plans.

The features of the mobile app include: Book and pay for a flight; Manage your booking; Online check in; Access to frequent flyer program; Flight status and many other useful features.

Free to download on Google Play store and IOS App Store, the app presents consumers with an intuitive, easy-to-use interface.

Arik Air’s Chief Executive Officer, Captain Roy Ilegbodu said the airline is proud to introduce the app to our esteemed customers. He said: “This is another in the series of innovations aimed at positioning Arik Air as a truly customer friendly airline.

“We believe that this will improve customer interaction with our airline, while boosting customer experience.”